


came out in front when I was hiding

by helsinkibaby



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Community: comment_fic, F/M, Gen, Rare Pairings, Unconventional Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-21
Updated: 2015-01-21
Packaged: 2018-03-08 13:25:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3210725
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/helsinkibaby/pseuds/helsinkibaby
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At a karaoke night, Caitlin gets a surprise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	came out in front when I was hiding

**Author's Note:**

> For the picture prompt of a microphone and cheering hands.   
> I don't even know what to say with this ship. I wrote an honest to god friendship piece between these two and now here I am... The power of Jesse L Martin y'all!

To say Caitlin had had to be dragged here is an understatement. After the day they'd had, all she'd wanted to do was to go home, have a long hot bath and curl up in bed. But Cisco and Barry had caught her on her way out, and heaven help her when the two of them turned identical and simultaneous puppy dog eyes on her. Which was how she'd found herself in a cop bar on karaoke night, wishing she was anywhere else, only hoping that Cisco and Barry knew better than to push their luck and try to get her on stage after the events of that day - even puppy dog eyes had their limits. 

They'd been joined by Iris and Eddie, a fact that had made Barry ask her, sotto voce, if she'd perfected his special brand of liquor yet. She'd given him a sympathetic, but not too sympathetic shake of the head - hey, misery loved company - and cheered dutifully as Cisco got up and strutted his stuff to a charmingly off-key rendition of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You."

But it was when Joe's name got called out that things got interesting. Caitlin looked around, surprised, because she hadn't realised he was here, before she realised quickly that probably neither he nor Barry and Iris wanted to be out socialising together at night. Cisco's expression was a cross between surprised and delighted; Barry and Iris on the other hand looked anything but. Barry's brows were drawn into a frown while Iris looked like she wanted to the ground to open up and swallow her. 

"He promised us..." she said, slinking lower into her seat as Barry peered ruefully into his bottle of beer that might as well have been water. 

"If ever I needed a drink..." he opined. 

Eddie was looking from one to the other. "Come on...." he said. "How bad can he actually be?" The look Iris gave him had him wilting in his seat and he joined Barry in taking a long pull from his bottle of beer. 

Then Joe started to sing.

That was the point Caitlin lost all interest in the conversation because as the bar conversation quietened down and the whoops of appreciation grew, she realised something about Joe's rendition of "Dock of the Bay."

It was good. 

Really good. 

Dimly at her side she heard Cisco whistle, glanced around to see him removing his index fingers from his lips. "He can sing!" he said, sharing an amazed look with Eddie. Barry was smiling, but with his arms crossed, and it looked to Caitlin like he was torn between appreciating the performance and being embarrassed by it. Iris was in no way torn though, peeking through her fingers and, when Joe began to really get into the music, dancing across the stage, not even doing that, hands covering her face entirely. 

By the end of the number, everyone in the bar was clapping along, Joe was in his element onstage, and Caitlin was in dire need of a drink. She knew that her cheeks must be red and flushed, but no-one seemed to notice, too busy listening to Iris complain about how embarrassing her dad was to pay Caitlin any mind as she stood up and announced that it was her round. 

Pushing her way to the bar she did her best to get herself under control, reciting the Periodic Table of Elements to herself, usually a sure fire way to calm herself down. It was working too, until she felt a presence at her elbow, looked up to see a smiling Joe West staring down at her. 

"Doctor Snow." He was all business. 

"Detective." So was she. "Nice song." 

His eyes danced as his lips twitched. "My second choice."

It was a leading question if ever she'd heard one, but right now, she was in the mood to be led. "What was your first?"

He didn't blink. "Donny Hathaway. 'A Song for You.'" She frowned, the tune momentarily escaping her and he helped her out, leaning in - which wouldn't have looked too out of the ordinary, the bar being as noisy as it was - and quietly singing, "We were alone and I was singing a song for you."

Caitlin was a scientist, a doctor. She knew how the human body worked and knew there was no physiological reason that a person could literally go weak at the knees. 

Nonetheless, that's exactly what happened. 

She tightened her grip on the bar to steady herself, thought she'd covered it up quickly but when she saw him grin, she knew she hadn't been quick enough. He glanced over in the direction she'd come from, to the table where Barry and company still sat and the coast must have been clear because his hand moved to cover hers. 

"Maybe I'll sing it later."

His voice was low, intimate, one that was for her and her alone and Caitlin replied in kind. "Count on it," she told him, suddenly very glad that Cisco and Barry had talked her into coming out that night. 


End file.
